Lost Among the Angels

Throw in a stray child, blackmail, murder, a poodle, a stalker, Mercy's imagination and Ernie's protective streak. Add a speakeasy, Chinatown, and some vicious criminals, they're in for a drama that will put the flickers to shame--if they survive to tell the story. More

Mercy Allcutt, Boston Brahmin, wants to experience life in all its grittiness. How better than by working for a down-on-his luck PI in Hollywood? Once she discovers what PI actually stands for, she knows Mr. Ernest Templeton is the boss for her.

Raised in the ivory tower of proper Boston, when well-bred Mercy gets a job with Ernest Templeton, Private Investigator, she's ecstatic. Ernie, a jaded ex-cop, is incredulous. Together, they must cope with a stray child, kidnapping, blackmail, murder, a toy poodle, a vamp, a stalker, Mercy's overactive imagination and Ernie's strong protective streak. Throw in a speakeasy, Chinatown, and a couple of down-and-dirty criminals, and Mercy and Ernie are in for a drama that will put the motion picture industry to shame . . . if they can survive long enough to tell the story.

Award-winning author Alice Duncan lives with a herd of wild dachshunds (enriched from time to time with fosterees from New Mexico Dachshund Rescue) in Roswell, New Mexico. She’s not a UFO enthusiast; she’s in Roswell because her mother’s family settled there fifty years before the aliens crashed. Since her two daughters live in California, where Alice was born, she’d like to return there, but can’t afford to. Alice would love to hear from you at alice@aliceduncan.net. And be sure to visit her website: http://www.aliceduncan.net

Reviews

Review by:
Donna Fletcher Crow
on June 29, 2011 :
If you haven't yet met Mercy Allcutt, Alice Duncan's heroine of the Angel Flight series, listen to me, you really, really DO want to meet Mercy. The spunky, but proper, daughter of blue-blood Bostonians turned loose in the speakeasies, opium dens and (gasp) barber shops of Roaring 20's Los Angeles is a true delight. I love the way Alice has turned the stereotypical dumb blonde sidekick/girlfriend of a hard-bitten detective on its head in creating Mercy. I'm wondering whether or not Alice has created a new subgenre in this hard-bitten cozy.

Oh, yes, and all you animal lovers--just wait till you meet Rosie, the miniature black poodle. And then there's streetwise, 12-year-old Barbara Ann, And did I mention Ernie Templeton AKA Sam Spade? All great characters.
(reviewed 27 days after purchase)